By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

POST MATCH VIDEO 

Hickory, N.C.---The No. 2 Owens Community College women's volleyball team picked up a pair of straight set wins over two National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I teams today in Monroe College and Spartanburg Methodist College.

With the wins, Owens is now 27-4 overall. They are off until Friday when they host Columbus State Community College at 6 p.m. The matchup kicks off the Owens Athletics Hall of Fame Weekend as the college honors its six initial members of its hall of fame on Saturday morning, followed by volleyball hosting St. Clair County at 12 p.m.

Match 1: Owens d. Monroe 25-18, 25-17, 28-26

In today's first match, Owens overcame an injury to Ashley Pleiman (Fort Loramie/Fort Loramie, Ohio) early in the first set and picked up a straight set win over Monroe College - although it wasn't easy.

With her team down two early in the first set, Pleiman took a pass in the middle from Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) and deposited a kill. She was injured on the play, though, and missed the rest of the day.

Olivia Hermiller (Ottawa-Glandorf/Ottawa, Ohio) saw increased playing time as a result, and produced with two kills, including the set winner off a pass from Tylutki, and also added a block.

Prior to Hermiller's set-winner, Owens rallied with four straight points following Pleiman's injury to take a 10-7 lead. Monroe answered back and took a 11-10 lead before a back row kill from Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio) and an ace from Carrigan Gray (Liberty-Benton/Findlay, Ohio) gave Owens the lead again.

From there, Owens never trailed again in the set, although it was close. With her team up 15-14, Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio) got a kill to spur a 3-0 run that forced a Monroe timeout. From there, Owens scored four of the next five points, capped by a Niki Polce (Huron/New Boston, Mich.) ace, to take a 22-15 lead.

In the second set, Owens scored four of the first five points, and capped the run with an overpass kill from Smith. Monroe chipped away at their deficit and eventually tied it up at eight apiece. Erika Angstmann (St. Mary's Memorial/St. Mary's, Ohio) responded with a left side kill as Owens scored the next three points and eventually stretched the lead to 15-9 on an ace from Angstmann.

Monroe answered with a kill down the left side and pulled within two moments later, but Smith produced a kill and then teamed with Angstmann on a block to make it four point lead. Back-to-back errors from Monroe pushed the lead to six, and a Smith-Hermiller block made it 23-16.

After a right side kill from Monroe, Owens got another kill from Smith, followed by a controversial net violation on Monroe to end the set.

The final set saw each team trade blows the entire way. Owens scored five of the first six points, and capped the run with an Angstmann kill from the left side. Monroe then scored four of the next six points and pulled within one.

Devon Heitkamp (New Bremen/New Bremen, Ohio) then teamed with Tylutki to spur a 3-0 Owens rally that was aided by a pair of Monroe attacks out of bounds. The lead hovered around two or three until a Hermiller attack went outside the antenna to tie it up at 15 apiece. Each team then traded the next five points before Angstmann's right side kill gave Owens a 19-17 lead.

Monroe had back-to-back errors on a serve into the net and an attack out of bounds to push the Owens lead to 22-19, which forced a timeout. Monroe responded by scoring the next four points to force a timeout from Owens.

Another Monroe error, this one an attack into the net, tied it up. Then, it got really crazy as the teams traded points the rest of the way. Angstmann's kill gave Owens its first match point, but Monroe responded with a strike down the right side.

Smith answered with a quick set kill from Tylutki down the middle to set up a second match point, but another right side kill from Monroe evened it up. Angstmann then picked up another kill on a tip shot from the left side, by Monroe answered - also from the left side.

At that point, Heitkamp slammed home a pair of kills from the middle to give Owens the two point set win.

Angstmann led the way with 11 kills against Monroe, while Smith added nine and Heitkamp had five. Tylutki had a team-high 22 assists, and Angstmann had a team-high two aces. In terms of digs, Gyori (21), Tylutki (19) and Angstmann (10) led the team, while Gray added six and Polce had five. Smith had a team-high six blocks, while Heitkamp added five and Angstmann/Tylutki each had four.

Match 2: Owens d. Spartanburg Methodist 25-15, 25-20, 25-13

Despite having to go through a fire alarm evacuation mid-match when a child pulled the alarm, Owens rolled past Spartanburg Methodist in straight sets to conclude play in the Catawba Valley Invitational.

Spartanburg Methodist either led or were tied for the first 12 points of the match, but back-to-back kills from Angstmann, followed by a Heitkamp kill, another Angstmann kill and an ace from Gray gave Owens an 11-6 lead.

Later, Owens had produced three straight points when the fire alarm went off mid-point, although play continued and a Smith-Hermiller block gave Owens a 19-9 lead. After the point ended, the building was evacuated until the fire department arrived.

Once play resumed, Spartanburg Methodist scored three straight points, but Owens responded with five straight, highlighted by another kill from Smith and an ace from Polce.

Spartanburg Methodist scored two points late, but Smith put things away with a kill from the middle.

Owens fell behind early in the second set, as well, but it didn't last as long. Spartanburg Methodist led on four points before a 5-0 run, capped by a Smith from Tylutki kill, gave Owens a 7-3 lead.

Following that, Owens gradually increased its lead. A back row kill from Angstmann made it 14-8, a Spartanburg Methodist attack into the net made it 17-9, and a left side kill from Angstmann made it 19-13. Spartanburg Methodist pulled within as few as two late, but Owens closed the set on a 4-1 run, highlighted by a Hermiller from Gyori kill.

Early in the third set, Owens produced seven straight points to open up a 10-4 lead, which forced a Spartanburg Methodist timeout. On the ensuing play, Angstmann picked up another kill to complete an 8-0 run.

Owens then got a kill from Heitkamp in the middle, followed by a kill from Annie Lindeman (Ottoville/Ottoville, Ohio), to make it 15-7. Another Heitkamp kill doubled up Spartanburg Methodist moments later at 16-8. Later in the set, Owens got three straight kills from Lindeman, Hermiller and Angstmann to take a 21-11 lead. 

A left side kill from Angstmann, an overpass kill from Heitkamp and a Spartanburg Methodist attack out of bounds ended the match.

Once again, Angstmann led the way with 12 kills. Smith and Heitkamp each chipped in seven. As a team, Owens hit .370, led by .667 from Heitkamp and .579 from Angstmann. Tylutki and Gray each had 15 assists, and Gyori had two aces. Gyori (15), Angstmann (12) and Polce (10) led the team in digs, and Tylutki added nine. Smith had a team-high five blocks.